The authors re-used images from other research in their paper. I don't know if that would normally lead to something as stern as:We've therefore concluded this was an act of research misconduct involving fabrication.

But then you have this little kicker at the end . . .

RIKEN said outside researchers had been unable to replicate the research.

I'm guessing that this was the actual reason for the investigation. The fact that the researchers re-used images gives the investigation momentum; the researchers are going to have to under go a months-long gang-audit if they want to keep their paper from being retracted by the journal.

SansNeural:FetusAGoGo: I could sense something wasn't right about the whole thing as soon as the original report came out.

There was way more reporting on how cute Obokata is than there on the research itself.

You're saying she's too cute to be a real scientist?

[www.cnsnews.com image 220x293]

No. I'm saying more of the news coverage went on about her being a cute young woman scientist than on her research. The media was building her up hard based on what she looked rather than what she did. I took that as a bad sign.